Veterans protest America's Army

America's Army isn't a game which has ever appealed to me on any level at all, mainly because I can recognise it for the lame, only vaguely enjoyable recruiting tool which it really is.

The game, which is funded by the American Department of Defence, tries to be a realistic take on modern day war with a stress on team tactics and working together to accomplish objectives. Of course, it's inevitably still filled with n00bs and smack-talk.

Recently though the game has been subject to even more controversy and ire, with a platoon of anti-war veterans assembling in St. Louis to protest the game - which they see as cheapening the tragedies of war and making light of the deaths of real soldiers.

The group of more than 90 protesters, who are known as Iraq Veterans Against the War, met in St. Louis wearing matching black t-shirts and chanting "War is not a game".

"We want people to know the truth about military service and that it's not always what they say," Kelly Dougherty, who served as a medic and MP in Iraq, said to St. Louis reporters at the protest.

"People who are considering joining the military should know the truth so they can make an informed decision," she said. Military recruiters in the area refused to comment on the protest or the on-going war in Iraq.

As a hardcore gamer myself, I often think about how others may view the games I play and the way I play them, but how soldiers react to games like America's Army or Rainbow Six isn't something which has ever honestly occurred to me.

What's your view on the war in Iraq and on how games like America's Army are used to recruit new soldiers? Let us know in the forums.

We go hands on with the new Call of Duty game and come back with an in-depth report on how it is shaping up. Has Call of Duty survived the move to a modern setting or is it just another old codger trying to look cool in a young man's clothes? We find out!